I updated my still-open issue with the Like button on Tuesday. Thanks to all of you who added comments to my post on Monday. The WordPress engineer who received my email agreed that, even though he could not recreate the problem, it obviously was widespread – Thank You!

We exchanged a few emails, he made some changes on the “back end” of their servers, and the problem I was having with Liking posts from my browser dis-a-peared! I checked one blog on my phone, and it seemed to work. It was late, and I went to bed.

On Wednesday, I continued testing, and I was not able to Like posts from my iPhone from Safari (the default browser) or from Chrome. This seemed odd, because, on my laptop, Chrome always seemed to work. I was seeing the same sad story. The post would shrink into a dark background and emerge unliked. I would login and be able to Like, but I’d hav to login again to comment.

After a few more emails, the engineer asked me to see if the setting “Prevent Cross-Site Tracking” was turned on on my phone. It was. He asked me to try turning that off.

That proved to be easier said than done. My phone and my iPad are both subject to the security control of the company I work for. Not only was that setting turned on, it was protected – I couldn’t change it.

Fortunately, our security guru is a member of my department, and he’s a reasonable guy. He modified our “back end” settings to default that setting to be on, but to allow the user (me) to turn it off. A few minutes later, I was notified that a new security profile had been downloaded. I found the setting. I turned it Off and I could like and comment with ease! I could visit, comment, like, tweet – WordPress on my iPhone the way it should be!

For the technically inclined, cross-site tracking is, as the name suggests, an ability for one website to track you as you move to other sites. It sounds like a horrible invasion of privacy, but it’s not…always. In the case of WordPress, it’s a good thing. As you move from WordPress blog to blog, the third-party cookies retrieved by WordPress allow it to know who you are, which allows you to Like, comment, Reblog, etc. Without that tracking ability, you are a new face at every WordPress blog you visit. Apple is getting a lot of flack for adding this feature. Hopefully, in future releases of IOS and MAC OS, they will let us choose who can and cannot use third-party cookies in this manner.

Note: If you think about it, this explains why the problems only manifested themselves on sites with custom domains – https://nofacilities.com = problem https://nofacilities.wordpress.com = no problem. The whatever.wordpress.com is not a different domain, so cross-site tracking isn’t required.

I tried to include a couple of screen shots, but the upload of the images failed.

Settings (iOS only, I don’t know how to do this on an Android device)

Safari

Prevent Cross-site Tracking

OFF

Once again, thanks for your help. Without your comments, I think the engineers would have been (understandably) inclined to thing the problems were all just related to me and my equipment (which some were). I also want to thank the WordPress engineer who read my email, read your comments, recognized the problem, changed their settings and explained what changes I needed to make.

Thanks for sharing:

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Published by Dan Antion

Husband, father, woodworker, cyclist, photographer, geek - oh wait, I’m writing this like I only have 140 characters. I am all those things, and more, and all of these passions present me with opportunities to observe, and think about things that I can’t write about in other places. I have started this blog to catch the stuff that falls out, overflows and just plain doesn’t fit the other containers in my life.
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You may only have to login once. I had to log into some of my regulra sites, but now they seem to recognize me. If you get a message asking to you to accept the fact that they use cookies, you will probably have to log in. If you don’t get that message, it should be OK.

Thanks Maggie. I hope you only have to log in once. After I made those changes, I rebooted my phone. I’ve had to log into a bunch of places once, but now I’m starting to see the “Following” tag at the bottom, which I hadn’t been seeing.

From what you stated, you are more of a Mac user. I wonder if the same problems are having on devices that use Windows. It’s just something I’m curious about. I don’t have a cell phone because I’m usually at home where I can use the desktop or laptop. I’ve thought about getting a tablet or iPad but wonder if it’s worth the cost.

I am primarily a Windows laptop user. I have an iPhone, and an iPad (I develop apps for them for the company I work for). I use the iPad a lot when I travel, and for some features that are only available on a mobile device, but I write on my laptop. I was having a different problem liking posts on my laptop, but only with Firefox. The changes the engineer made on their side, fixed that problem.

I read a lot of blogs on my phone. I like the freedom of being able to do that wherever and whenever I have some time. I can’t write anything on my phone – I’ve tried, it’s awful.

The iPad is nice for travel, and for being away from a larger device. It has a long battery life, and it’s pretty easy to work with, as long as you get an external keyboard (usually built into a case). If I had to choose between the iPad and a laptop, I’d take the laptop, for sure.

I have things set up so I can easily move from device to device, but it’s what I do for a living. I’m not sure how much I will maintain after I retire.

No problem here:) Am glad, because I am not as patient as you are- I would have simply let some water run over my computer and ditched it in the trash, lol! Oh, I forgot I came here for Thurs. Doors…crooked smile

I’m going to take some time to study it. I think it’s a new feature (new to me) and may require a compatible theme. I’ve also played a bit with the new editor and it looks like the happiness team worked in some of the best features of the classic editor.

I Liked it. I can always like it. Here from my laptop, on Chrome, or is it the sofa? Magical sofa, ah.
So glad you got some of it settled!
I think I shall imagine I have another 5000 or so people who want to like my posts and simply cannot ;)